Lycopene

Lycopene is the pigment that gives tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit and guava their red colour. It is a particularly powerful antioxidant carotenoid but, unlike beta-carotene, it is not converted into vitamin A. It has its own effects.

The paradox of cooked over raw: the most spectacular textbook case of bioavailability, because lycopene is much better absorbed cooked than raw! Cooking breaks down the cell walls of the tomato and releases the lycopene, while also making it easier to assimilate (a change in molecular form, cis versus trans).

Striking figures: cooked tomato sauce or purée (especially with olive oil) provides several times more bioavailable lycopene than a raw tomato. Pizza and pasta with tomato sauce are, paradoxically, excellent sources of lycopene! It is the perfect example to debunk the myth that “raw is always better”.

Fat is essential (lycopene is fat-soluble): tomato plus olive oil is the optimal combination.

Health benefits studied:

1. Prostate: lycopene is one of the most studied compounds for prostate health, and studies link a high intake (cooked tomato products) to a lower risk of prostate cancer
2. Cardiovascular: an antioxidant effect on LDL (limiting its oxidation) and support for vascular function
3. Skin: partial protection against UV damage (a modest internal “sun protection” that does not replace sun cream)

The Mediterranean diet again: tomato cooked in olive oil (sauce, ratatouille, soup) is a Mediterranean staple, one more reason for the benefits of this cuisine, which naturally combines lycopene with good fat.

In practice: favour cooked tomato products (sauce, passata, purée, soup) with a little oil to maximise lycopene. They are more effective than raw tomato in a salad (which has other qualities of its own). Tomato purée is particularly rich. A good example that “processed” (here, cooking) is not synonymous with “worse”, and sometimes the reverse.